Toy building set

ABSTRACT

This application discloses toy building blocks of similar shape but constructed to different modules. They are buildable together and, to this end, the inner protrusions of the smaller blocks coact with the outer projections of the larger blocks differently from the coaction within the module which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,005,282.

D United States Patent 1111 3,597,875

1 1 lnvenwr (Mum! Kirk Christiansen 3,005,282 10/1961 Christiansen 46/25Bull-Ind, Denmark 3,034,254 5/1962 Christiansen.... 46/25 1 1 pp 776.6073,162,973 12/1964 Christiansen.... 46/25 1 1 Filed 18,!968 3,224,13512/1965 Wright et al. 46/25 x [45] Patented Aug. 10, 1971 FOREIGNPATENTS [73] Assugnee luterlego A.G.

lug, swimflud 629,732 10 1961 Canada 46/25 Priorities Nov- 29. Feb. 3Great Britaln [33] Denmark; Germany OTHER REFERENCES 5973; PlaythingsVol. 62 #7 (Kenner s) July, 1964, pp. 101- American Calmac Corp. March10, 1966, Cover (front &

back) 5 TOY BUiLmNG SET Primary Examiner-Louis G. Mancene 7 C i 2Drawing p Assistant Examiner-D. L. Weinhold 52 us. 01. 46/25Momekstevens' Davis Mmemnd Mosh [SI] lnt.Cl A63h 33/08 [50] Field 0Search 46/25 ABSTRACT; This application discloses toy building blocks ofsimilar shape but constructed to different modules. They are [56]Rdemnws Clad buildable together and, to this end, the inner protrusionsof UNITED STATES PATENTS the smaller blocks coact with the outerprojections of the 349,646 9/1886 Grigg 46/25 larger blocks difi'erentlyfrom the coaction within the module 460,177 9/1891 Cook 46/25 UX whi h iiscl in Pat.

Patentd Aug. 10, 1971 3,597,875

INVENT OR GDDTFRED 1r. CHRIST/AN 3 EN ATTORNEYS Toy BUILDING sr'r Thisinvention relates to a toy building set of the type comprisingdownwardly open, box-shaped building elements, each of which is providedon the upper'surface with coupling studs serving to couple thcelement toa corresponding element by engagement between the sidewalls of thelatter element. Such building sets are constructed so that thedimensions of each building element is an integral multiple of a givenbasic module, but so that the said coupling studs have the samedimensions and are spaced equally in all the elements, which thus simplyhave different numbers of such coupling studs according to their size.

When making a building structure from such elements it may in certaincases be of interest to use larger elements than the normal, i.e.elements which are both'of greater height and of. greater width than thenormal elements. Also to arouse the interest of smallcr'children it maybe an advantage that they can start playing with a building set withlarger elements which are easier to handle for small children, who maythen later on become interested in more advanced and detailed structurescomposed of smaller elements. it is therefore the object of the presentinvention to provide a toy building set which is constructed to permitsmall and large elements to be combined, and this has been achieved bya' building'set which, besides base elements of a given basic modulewith respect to external dimensions, and dimensions and positioningofthe coupling studs, comprises elements the module of which is anintegral -niultipl e ofthesaid basic module. By'dirnensioningtheelements like this it has been rendered possible to couple small 7elements to elements, and the'elerhents may bejoined in any combinationso that for instance a structure commenced with large elements may becontinued and modified larly efficient coupling, and in order that thiscoupling may be effective both between large elements alone, betweensmall elements alone and between large and small elements, the

1 building set according to the invention may comprise elements themodule of which is twice the said basic module and which are providedwith tubular primary studs the internal diameter of which corresponds tothe external diameter of the secondary studs of the base element. inthis manner the secondary studs of the small elements will engage thetubular primary studs of the large elements and thus ensure an efficientcoupling.

In a specific embodiment of the invention which is based on thetheoretically correct relation between the dimensions of the andsecondary studs, the ratio of the outer radius "A" of the said tubularprimary studs to the radius "a" of the primary studs of the base elementand its wall thickness "b" is substantially as follows:

. A= +ga+b)(2/) though suitable tolerance must ta en .rnto account sothat the required friction'may be provided between engaging members whenthe elements are joined. Moreover it will be expedient to make thesecondary studs of the large elements :slightly shorter the height ofthe sidewalls so that these secondlrystuds'will'not be in the way of theprimary studs of a small element coupled to the underside of the largeelement.

The same efi'ect, however, may be achieved according to the invention byproviding the secondary studs of the large To further ensure anefficient coupling where a small element is made to engage the undersideof a large element, the

inner face of the sidewalls of the large element of a building setaccording to the invention may be provided with recesses for receivingthe primary studs of the small elements.

By defining the ratio of the stud radii as stated above it will bepossible to make building sets not only with elements in two differentsizes but virtually, if desired, in a great number of sizes, though thevarious sizes will not automatically become proportional. If it isdesired to have elements in a larger number of sizes it will beexpedient to dimension them with 10 :91 2. l-lereby completeproportionality will be provided between the different sizes ofelements, in that both wall thickness and the dimensions of primary andsecondary studs and the main dimensions of the elements will have thefollowing proportions: 1:2:416 etc.

The invention will be explained here with reference to the drawing, inwhich:

FIG. 1 shows two assembled building elements according to the invention,viewed in perspective, and

FIG. 2 the same elements viewed from above and in larger measure. i

The building elements 1 and 2 shown in FIG. 1 are coupled together bymeans of the studs 3 on the surface of the element 1 hereinafter calledprimary studs which cooperate with one or more secondary studs disposedwithin the hollow spac of the element 2 and in FIGQZ designated 4. Itwill be srnn directly from this figure that the module of the element 1can responds to twice the basic module indicated with respect to theelement 2.

In FIG. 2 the two elements 1 and 2 are viewed from above, and it will beseen that-the'element -l has upwardly facing-primary studs} anddownwardly facing secondary studs 6. Correspondi gly. the'e'lement 2 hasupwardly facing primarystuds 5 and downwardly facing secondary studs 4of approximately the same eritemal diameter as the internal diameter ofthe tubular primary studs 3.

in order that a'sr'nall element may also be coupled to the underside ofthe'large element 1, the side and end walls la and lb are provided withrecesses 10 for receiving the primary studs 5.

The geometrical conditions for obtaining the desired couplingpossibilities between the elements 1 and 2 may be derived from FIG. 2:

If "a' designates the radius of the primary stud S, b" the wallthickness of the element 2, "c" the outer radius of the secondarylstud.4 ,-A" the outer radius of the primary stud 3, B" the efi'ective wallthickness of the element 1, C" the outer radius of the secondary stud 6,A, the inner radius of the primary stud 3, and B,' the reduced wallthickness of the element 1, the following ratios between wall thicknessand stud dimensions will be obtained:

it will also be seen from the drawing that the free ends of thesecondary studs 6 are provided with recesses 7 forreceiving primarystuds 5 of a small element 2 disposed under the large element 1.

What I claim is:

l. A toy building set of the type comprising downwardly open,rectangular, box-shaped building elements, each of which on the outersurface opposite the openside is provided with an even number, not lessthan four, of rimary coupling studs serving to couple the element to acorresponding element by engagement betweenthe sidewalls of the latterele ment said primary coupling studs being arranged with their axes inthe corner of squares, said toy building set comprising at least twotypes of elements, smaller-type elements and larger-type elements, thesmaller-type elements having a given basic module with respect toexternal dimensions and positioning of coupling studs, having asecondary stud arranged within the hollow space of the element centrallyin relation to each square formedby the axes of the primary studs and sodimensioned as toengage four primary studs of another elemerit of thesame basic module, the larger-type elements havsecondary studs of asmaller-type element are capable of being gripped alternately within andbetween adjacent primary coupling studs of a larger-type element.

2. A toy building set according to claim 1, characterized in 7 that theratio of the outer radius 14" ofthe said tubular primary studs to theradius 41" of the primary studs of the base element and itswallthickness b is substantially as follows: A=a HHA 3. A toy buildingset according to claim 1, characterized in that in the inner faceof thesidewalls of the large elements there are recesses for receiving theprimary studs of small elemcnts.

4..A toy building set according to claim 1, characterized in that-:bfig

5. A toy building set of the type comprising downwardly open, box-shapedbuilding elements, each of which on .the outer surface opposite the openside is provided with primary coupling studs serving to couple theelement to a corresponding element by engagement between the sidewallsof the latter element said primary coupling studs being arranged withtheir axesin the corner of squares, said toy building set comprising iat lessttwo elements,a smaller one ot'which-is considered as a studs ofthe base element being equal to the internal diamefst of said primarystuds of the second element and to the spikebetween adjacent primarystuds on 'said secondary clement whereby adjacent secondary studs arecapable of being gripped alternately within and between adjacent primarycoupling studs of said larger element.

6. A building set comprising at least two box-shaped building elements,a smaller one and a large. one which has a module which is an integralmultiple of that of the small one, each having sidewalls, a top wall,the large one having at least two studs'on the upper surface of said topwalls and thesmall one having at least three projections on the undersurface of its top wall, the studs of said larger block being hollow andhaving an inside diameter equal to that of the under surface projectionsof the smaller block and being so spaced that the shortest path betweenthe external surface of adjacent studs is substantially equal to theoutside diameter of the projections of the smaller block.

7. A toy building set-of the type comprising downwardly open, box-shapedbuilding elements, each of which on the outer surface opposite the openside is provided with primary coupling studs serving to couple theelement to a corresponding element by engagement between the sidewallsof the latter element, said primary coupling studs being arranged withtheir axes in the corner of squares, each element having secondary studswithin the hollow space of .the element for engagement with four primarystuds of a block of identical proportions, said toy building setcomprising at least two elements, a smaller one of which is consideredas a base element of agiven basic module with respect to externaldimensions andposi- -tio'nin:'g"of coupling studs, a larg er secondelement having a

1. A toy building set of the type comprising downwardly open,rectangular, box-shaped building elements, each of which on the outersurface opposite the open side is provided with an even number, not lessthan four, of primary coupling studs serving to couple the element to acorresponding element by engagement between the sidewalls of the latterelement said primary coupling studs being arranged with their axes inthe corner of squares, said toy building set comprising at least twotypes of elements, smaller-type elements and larger-type elements, thesmaller-type elements having a given basic module with respect toexternal dimensions and positioning of coupling studs, having asecondary stud arranged within the hollow space of the element centrallyin relation to each square formed by the axes of the primary studs andso dimensioned as to engage four primary studs of another element of thesame basic module, the larger-type elements having a module which is anintegral multiple of the said basic module, its primary coupling studsbeing tubular, the external diameter of the secondary studs of thesmaller-type elements being equal to the internal diameter of saidprimary studs of the larger-type elements and to the space betweenadjacent primary studs on such larger-type elements whereby adjacentsecondary studs of a smaller-type element are capable of being grippedalternately within and between adjacent primary coupling studs of alargertype element.
 2. A toy building set according to claim 1,characterized in that the ratio of the outer radius ''''A'''' of thesaid tubular primary studs to the radius ''''a'''' of the primary studsof the base element and its wall thickness ''''b'''' is substantially asfollows: A a+(a+b) (2- 2).
 3. A toy building set according to claim 1,characterized in that in the inner face of the sidewalls of the largeelements there are recesses for receiving the primary studs of smallelements.
 4. A toy building set according to claim 1, characterized inthat a b
 2. 5. A toy building set of the type comprising downwardlyopen, box-shaped building elements, each of which on the outer surfaceopposite the open side is provided with primary coupling studs servingto couple the element to a corresponding element by engagement betweenthe sidewalls of the latter element said primary coupling studs beingarranged with their axes in the corner of squares, said toy building setcomprising at least two elements, a smaller one of which is consideredas a base element of a given basic module with respect to externaldimensions and positioning of coupling studs, said base element havingat least three secondary studs within the hollow space of the element sodimensioned as to engage centrally four primary studs of another elementof the same basic module, a larger second element having a module whichis an integral multiple of the said basic module, its primary couplingstuds being tubular, the external diameter of the secondary studs of thebase element being equal to the internal diameter of said primary stUdsof the second element and to the space between adjacent primary studs onsaid secondary element, whereby adjacent secondary studs are capable ofbeing gripped alternately within and between adjacent primary couplingstuds of said larger element.
 6. A building set comprising at least twobox-shaped building elements, a smaller one and a large one which has amodule which is an integral multiple of that of the small one, eachhaving sidewalls, a top wall, the large one having at least two studs onthe upper surface of said top walls and the small one having at leastthree projections on the under surface of its top wall, the studs ofsaid larger block being hollow and having an inside diameter equal tothat of the under surface projections of the smaller block and being sospaced that the shortest path between the external surface of adjacentstuds is substantially equal to the outside diameter of the projectionsof the smaller block.
 7. A toy building set of the type comprisingdownwardly open, box-shaped building elements, each of which on theouter surface opposite the open side is provided with primary couplingstuds serving to couple the element to a corresponding element byengagement between the sidewalls of the latter element, said primarycoupling studs being arranged with their axes in the corner of squares,each element having secondary studs within the hollow space of theelement for engagement with four primary studs of a block of identicalproportions, said toy building set comprising at least two elements, asmaller one of which is considered as a base element of a given basicmodule with respect to external dimensions and positioning of couplingstuds, a larger second element having a module, its primary couplingstuds being tubular, the external diameter of the secondary studs of thebase element being equal to the internal diameter of said primary studsof the second element and to the space between adjacent primary studs ofsaid second element, the secondary studs of the larger element havingcavities adapted to accommodate primary studs of the smaller element.